Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Harold, known as Harry or Des, was born in Adelaide on the 25th November 1920 to Alice May and Fred Brown. He had two older brothers, Ronald James (Ron) and Kenneth George (Ken). Harry was just 15 when his 41-year-old father died in June ’36 having an enduring effect on the young man. Both Adelaide newspapers carried the notice that ‘BROWN.—On the 18th June, at Adelaide. Fred ("Nigger"), beloved husband of May Brown, of 12 Sheldon street, Norwood, and loving father of Ron, Ken and Des, aged 41 years.’
In a clumsy attempt to engage with two young, uniformed women, Harry, then a 19-year-old labourer working in Lobethal, found his behaviour to be deemed offensive. This earned him a court appearance and fine of £1/10/ with 10/ costs in ’40. Within six months he then decided to enlist on the 27th January 1941. (Harry’s brothers also later enlisted, Ken in September ’42 as SX22341 and Ron, married with two children in April ’43, briefly serving also with the 2/48th battalion as SX19418.)
Harry’s official enlistment papers indicate that he was already heavily tattooed in memory of his father with a heart, cross and scroll with his father underneath. Harry was allocated the number SX11079 and immediately placed in the 2/48th Battalion as part of the reinforcements. His early training was in Terowie, in the mid-north of the state, as those conditions were considered similar to the desert conditions of the Middle East that the soldiers would experience. Following a brief time of leave, Harry embarked for overseas, arriving in the Middle East in May and spent time in a Staging Camp. Despite warnings, Harry enjoyed the local entertainments but was inevitably hospitalised as he recovered.
In August the following year Harry was wounded in action with a gunshot wound to his left thigh which resulted in him being hospitalised. That year was to be a challenging one for the 2/48th. Orders had been received to capture West Point of Tel el Eisa in a dawn attack. In his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’, John G. Glenn described the ferocious encounter.
‘When the troops were well forward of the start-line they came under terrific fire from shells and mortars from the front and left, and suffered heavy casualties. With the slow deliberate movement of perfectly trained soldiers both companies continued the advance in perfect formation, over ground that trembled and erupted with vicious explosions. Through this, sometimes obscured by the smoke and dust, the men moved, and, as they advanced, the fire kept place with them, leaving behind the still shapes of fallen men among the camel bush and sand.’
In late June ‘42 with Rommel crossing into Egypt, the 2/48th were in an offensive to capture Trig 33, which was achieved on the 10th July. In doing so, over 400 Italian prisoners were taken. The 2/48th battalion then advanced south, capturing the Tel el Eisa station and repelling numerous counter attacks. However, they were eventually forced to withdraw, having suffered over 100 casualties. The 2/48th battalion suffered 215 casualties between the 7th July and 23rd October. Of that number, 64 men were killed and six, died of their wounds. 125 other men were wounded but survived.
Back home, the August edition of the Chronicle in ’42 carried the names of the killed and injured. Besides Archie, those in his battalion included: Wounded In Action SX6828 Pte Harold R L Baker Adelaide. SX8878 Pte Gerald W Bellinger Millicent. SX9388 Pte Clarence G Brown. Port Wakefield, SX1075 L-Cpl. Eric Brown SX11079 Pte Harold D Brown, Trinity Gardens. SX537 Pte. P. A Carey, Broken Hill. NSW SX7497 L-Cpl Ronald Chinner, Angaston. SX7725 Pte. Cecil Clark, Langhorne's Creek. SX8132 Pte. Cyril H. Fleet, Menlngle. SX7417 Pte. Clarence L Gallagher, Murray Bridge. SX7330 Pte. Allen R Harris, Moonta. SX13570 Pte Charles Holman, Broken Hill. NSW. (Later KIA Oct ’42) SX12363 A-Cpl. Harry B. Irwin. Port Augusta. SX8017 L-Cpl. Charles. G. Manuel. Balaklava. SX8138 Pte Albert. V. McKenzie, Minlaton. SX11302 Pte. Walter Sharp, Magill. SX7952 Pte Kevin P Stephens. Adelaide. SX7294 Cpl. Henry P. Stopp. Keith. SX9034 A-Cpl. Noel A Tietzel. North Adelaide. SX8539 Pte Edward J Young Inf., Morgan.
As were so many of the wounded, Harry was hospitalised, but after being treated and discharged he went AWOL for 4 days with the inevitable forfeiture of his pay. By February ’43 Harry’s battalion returned to Australia via Melbourne but for Harry, warfare was challenging and he reacted by on-going periods of absence. This culminated at the end of June ’43 with a Court of Enquiry being held to investigate Harry being absent from the 20th May to the 30th June and that he had taken with him articles to the value of £9 4/- He finally surrendered to SX7360 Sergeant Lachlan Watson on the 10th July and was returned to his unit. Inevitably Harry was found guilty and forfeited 60 days’ pay. By the beginning of September Harry had forfeited a huge 111 days’ pay.
The war, however, continued with training moving to Queensland to prepare the troops for the tropical conditions of New Guinea and for fighting against a very different enemy. By September ’43 Harry arrived in Milne Bay. Within months he had contracted Malaria and received treatment for a week before being able to briefly return to his battalion. Over the following months the malaria continued to return several times until, by the end of March ’44 Harry returned to Townsville. His immediate reaction was to again go AWOL, an action that was repeated when he was transferred to Victoria in April when he failed to attend parade. Predictably, this eventuated in him forfeiting 10/-. Over June, Harry’s AWOL charges continued to culminate. By January he was found guilty of all charges and given field punishment for 60 days, plus forfeiting all pay over that time. Unsurprisingly, he escaped custody in January ‘45, inevitably forfeiting a total of 88 days’ pay.
During this time, Harry’s mother re-married divorcee James Henry Gilbert of Norwood in July ’44.
Harry finally surrendered to authorities in August ’45 in SA. In October at the Keswick Barracks, a District Court Martial was held and the huge 266 days’ of pay was forfeited. The decision was made to hold Harry under close arrest. His challenging service record culminated in him being Court Martialled in October ’45. As with all cases, the press covered the details of each soldier’s service, with the Advertiser reporting that ‘Pte. Harold Desmond Brown, a 25 -year-old soldier, who was wounded in action at El Alamein and served at Tobruk and In New Guinea, pleaded guilty to having been AWL from January 8 to August I5. 1945. when he surrendered to the Provost Corps. The court was closed to consider sentences in all cases.’
Harry was finally discharged in time for Christmas on the 14th December ’45.
He was able to settle as a civilian and enjoy a ‘normal’ life when he married Norma and particularly with the arrival of their two children Paul and Vicki. He was also an active member of the Woodside RSL and involved in the popular fundraising of the ‘Ugly Man’ competition to raise funds for improvements and for charity. He was one of two men selected as the Ugly Man candidates in ‘53. Norma coordinated a trading table and donations with the local Mount Barker Courier carrying an extra plea that ‘Proceeds for this Trading Table will be for Des Brown, candidate for "Ugly Man." Any members of 2/48th Tobruk Rats and others, please take special note.’
Aged 51, Harry died at Verdun on the 23rd January, 1972. He was buried in the Lobethal General Cemetery. Norma lived for a further two decades. She died on the 19th September ’91. (Both Harry’s brothers on their deaths were buried at Centennial Park Cemetery.)
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.